GOVERNMENT prosecutors have endorsed the indictment of a Nigerian national and a Filipina allegedly involved in the sale of an eight-month-old baby.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Office of the Prosecutor General said the two suspects will be facing child trafficking charges.
On March 22, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) anti-human trafficking division rescued the baby from the residence of a Nigerian national and a Filipina in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, and the two were arrested shortly after.
Authorities will also start preliminary investigations on April 11 on the baby’s mother and another Filipina who allegedly acted as “middleman” for the illegal transaction.
Evidence provided by NBI showed that the baby was sold on March 3 in Quezon City for P45,000. The baby’s own mother sold her to a person she met through Facebook.
The baby’s father was able to locate the child by reviewing CCTV footage of where the transaction took place.
A taxi driver told authorities that the mother of the baby had admitted to him that she had sold her own baby while onboard his taxi, prosecutors said.
Under the Revised Penal Code, those who are convicted of child trafficking and kidnapping and failure to return a minor may be sentenced to life in prison. — John Victor D. Ordoñez